A cobbler, classically, is fruit cooked in a dish with a biscuit-y dough on top (the dough is dropped on in pieces, or it makes a layer across the top). The following variation comes from a friend in North Carolina who swears that in his neck of the woods, the batter-like topping below is quite common. Common or not…it’s a perfect foil for the fruit.
Makes 6 servings
3 lbs. fresh peaches
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter to grease baking pan
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease an 8″ square baking dish (glass or metal) with the 2 teaspoons of butter. Peel the peaches, cut them in half, take out the pit, cut each half into four wedges, then place in dish.
3. In a medium bowl sift together flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cardamom.
4. In another medium bowl whisk together the 1/2 cup of melted butter, milk, egg, vanilla and lemon zest. Stir into flour mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix.
5. Pour mixture over peaches. Don’t worry if some of the batter sinks; it will rise back to the top during baking.
6. Place in oven and bake until the top of the cobbler is golden brown, about 35 minutes. A skewer inserted into the top of the mixture should come out clean. Serve warm with lightly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
